Who we are

The Nelson Meers Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation based in Sydney. It was founded in 2001 by Mr Nelson Meers AO, a lawyer and former lord mayor of Sydney, in order to provide greater opportunities for Australia’s cultural organisations.

Buru Production photographer Rod Hartvigsen

OPERATION ART
Children's Hospital Westmead

The Nelson Meers Foundation

The Nelson Meers Foundation was the first ‘prescribed private fund’ (now prescribed ancillary fund) to commence operation in Australia and, in 2005, won the Australian Business Arts Foundation’s Goldman Sachs/JB Were Philanthropy Leadership Award.

The Nelson Meers Foundation is a family foundation, and the Foundation’s operations are overseen by an advisory board chaired by Mr Nelson Meers AO and comprised of family members and members of the community. The Nelson Meers Foundation’s Executive Director is Nelson Meers’ daughter, Sam.

We strongly believe in the importance of philanthropy to the fabric of our community, and we actively advocate for greater opportunities for philanthropic giving in Australia.

case studies

Our case studies (above) bring the Nelson Meers Foundation’s current philanthropic partnerships into focus.

news

  • Finding Antarctica: Mapping the Last Continent Exhibition

    3 December 2011 – 19 February 2012

    The Nelson Meers Foundation is proud to support the State Library of NSW's latest exhibition: Finding Antarctica: Mapping the Last Continent.

    It is one hundred years since Douglas Mawson led the 1911 to 1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE), arriving on Macquarie Island on 11 December 1911.

    In celebration of this centenary, this exhibition will focus on the mapping of Antarctica from the 15th to the 21st century, from crude woodcut maps of the known world through to the latest satellite imagery. The exhibition will tell the story of the gradual discovery, exploration and charting of this significant land mass.

    The exhibition will showcase the magnificent collection of rare maps and charts held by the State Library, accompanied by rare published accounts and original sketches from Antarctica exploration by Cook, d'Urville, the United State Exploring Expeditions and the Australasian Antarctic Expedition.

    To view the exhibition opening hours at the State Library of NSW click here

  • Art Gallery of NSW presents Picasso masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris

    12 Nov 2011 – 25 Mar 2012

    This is the most significant Picasso exhibition ever to come to Australia. Part of a world tour, the Art Gallery of NSW is the only Australian venue.

    Made possible by the closure of the Musée National Picasso for renovations, this is likely to be the only opportunity to see Picasso’s work on this scale in Australia.

    These are ‘Picasso’s Picassos’ – the works from his own collection that he left to shape his legacy, which were given to the French state after his death.

    The exhibition is co-organised by the Musée National Picasso, Paris, the Art Gallery of NSW and Art Exhibitions Australia. It is part of the Sydney International Art Series.

    For further information and timed entry tickets, click here.

  • Eve Ensler Lecture: Until the Violence Stops

    Performance Lecture by Eve Ensler

    12 February 2012 6pm Sydney Theatre

    Tony Award winning playwright, performer, writer and human rights activist, Eve Ensler is best known for her play, The Vagina Monologues. The world-wide success of the Monologues led to Eve Ensler's establishment of V-Day, a global activist movement and organisation to stop violence against women and girls. In 2011, V-Day and Fondation Ponzi (DRC), with support from UNICEF, opened the City of Joy for women survivors of gender violence in Bukavu, DRC.

    Eve Ensler's latest play, I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World, made the New York Times bestseller list and has been performed from Johannesburg to Paris.

    To purchase tickets, click here.